


They That Have the Power To Hurt And Will Do None

by sunkelles



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Charmspeak, Established Relationship, F/F, Femslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-27
Updated: 2013-05-27
Packaged: 2017-12-13 03:52:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/819642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunkelles/pseuds/sunkelles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Piper feels guilty after accidentally charmspeaking Leo. Reyna, though awkward with her feelings, still tries to comfort her conflicted girlfriend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	They That Have the Power To Hurt And Will Do None

**Author's Note:**

> They that have power to hurt and will do none,  
> That do not do the thing they most do show,  
> Who, moving others, are themselves as stone,  
> Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow,  
> They rightly do inherit heaven's graces
> 
> -Shakespeare Sonnet 94

"I feel awful," groaned Piper, rubbing her forehead in frustration and shame. She gazed out at New Rome with a pained look on her face.

"It wasn't that bad," Reyna replied in what she hoped was a comforting tone. Piper continued staring off onto the horizon. In hindsight, the edge of a large bridge stretching across the Little Tiber was probably not the best place they could possibly sit, but the view was breath-taking. The sun was setting, and the sky was painted various shades of pink, purple and gold.

Her girlfriend gave her a serious look, kaleidoscope eyes boring into her, "I charmspoke Leo."

She inhaled and reiterated, making each syllable distinct, "I. Charm. Spoke. Leo." She had a look of disgust on her face, self-loathing almost.

"Accidentally," Reyna supplied, trying to comfort her, to reassure her that this wasn't her fault.

"Rey," Piper said with a guilty and pained looked on her face, "I told him to shut up and he couldn't speak for an entire day. He sat through the entire senate meeting pretending that nothing was wrong because he didn't want to bring attention to the fact that I'd fucked up."

She paused a moment, contemplating what else to add, "If everyone knew that I'd fucked up this badly, that one of the "oh so amazing heroes" could be this stupid and irresponsible, it would be chaos. And that's assuming they believed it was an accident. This could have ruined relations between the camps, and, and, ugh." She groaned and dug her head into Reyna's shoulder.

"It's just, I-I charmspeak people, and I don't mean to, sometimes I just can't control it and someday I might," Piper didn't finish the sentence, but Reyna knew basically where she intended to take it.

Someday I might really hurt someone or fuck something up.

Reyna paused a moment, considering how to respond.

"There are positive uses for charmspeak," Reyna finally decided, though it sounded like a pathetic argument, even to her.

"I know, I know," said Piper sarcastically, "It's a good tool in diplomacy; some wars are won with words."

"I was actually going to say that it's kind of sexy," Reyna replied, attempting to waggle her eyebrows.

"You can be such a dork," her girlfriend replied with her gorgeous laugh. Reyna loved her laugh, it was deep and rich like chocolate, and alternated between a few set pitches. But then Piper's smile died. She'd obviously remembered what she'd accidentally done to her self-declared, "annoying little brother."

Reyna took a deep breath.

She was going to have to do it; talk about her feelings.

And honestly?

Talking about her feelings had never been Reyna's strong suit, but she hoped that if her words became a jumbled, inarticulate mess, Piper would understand.

"Piper," Reyna said, pausing to take a breath.

She began to speak again, the words flowing out faster than she thought possible; a waterfall of all her feelings spewing from her mouth, "I know that you didn't mean to. Piper, you have all this power. You honestly could make anyone do anything you wanted with just a charmspoken word and a bat of your eyelashes, but you don't. Whenever you actually use your powers, it's accidentally; Bellona, you don't even like using them for good. You understand that they're manipulative, and you have the moral fiber and strength of character not to do it; not to use people to your advantage."

She paused for a moment, trying to weigh her girlfriend's reaction before she added, "And that's what I love about you."

Piper gave her a small smile as she melted into her lover's embrace.


End file.
